HR As A Strategic Role Player In An Organization
Introduction
Strategic managements refer to management futuristic in nature. The word ‘strategy’ was first coined from the military. It was a methodology applied by armies to defeat their enemy. Strategic management defines where an organization will be in future. It enables the organization be proactive, being reactive to circumstances would make the organization miss out. This level of management is the one mandated with coming up with goals, objectives, vision and mission for the organization. Today the strategic level of management has discovered the role of the human resource department, which has today become widely used by organizations in making strategic decisions, the HR department has the required talent to achieve the set goal and it is therefore wise to involve it in strategic management.
Responses
(Part 1)
It is important to incorporate human resource in making strategic decisions for several reasons, first of all the human resource is the talent that the organization requires to achieve its goals, the organization can not achieve its objectives without the employees, and considering that the employees know their strengths and weaknesses best, involving them in making strategic decisions would be to the best interest of the organization. The employees know what they are best at and therefore they can provide useful advice to the managers on what direction and actions to take based on their strengths, this can result into an overall improvement in strategic performance.
Secondly by involving the employees in strategic management, the managers can know better the training needs of employees which need be addressed for attainment of the desired goals. This also enhances a healthy organizational culture where there is free interaction between the top management and the junior employees, the free interaction would enable the management to establish the efficiencies and deficiencies of the employees and consequently train them to achieve more effectiveness in attainment of the desired goals, Kotter (1992).
Involving employees in making strategic decisions serves as a motivation for the employees. The feeling that they have a substantial say and role to play in the organization will motivate them to work more and feel part of the top management even though they are just junior staff. This will propel the organization towards its goals due to the additional effort realized from the employees, Tracy (1995).
(Part 2)
The employees can benefit from involvement in strategic management; to begin with, this type of involvement is comparable to delegation which is assignment of senior duties to junior staff. Strategic management is a role of the top management. Through such kind of an assignment, the employees get to build their capacity; interaction with top managers accords them with skills in management. The employees can therefore become good managers of their business out of the organization.
Involvement in top management for employees enables them to realize their ego needs. It is a way of recognition; they feel that the managers feel that they can do more than their assigned tasks. Realizing their ego needs makes the employees feel more satisfied. The employees can realize some of their career goals just as junior staff and this derive more satisfaction for them. Lastly but not least, a benefit which can accrue to them is a better pay. The salary scale of the employees can be increased their talent endowment through this involvement, this may be for the purpose of inspiring them employees to work more towards the goals of the organization.
(Part 3)
There are risks of leaving the HR out in making strategic decisions, this calls the managers to realize the importance of the involvement and enforce it with immediate effect. First lack of the involvement leads to a demoralized staff, the employees end up not performing the tasks that they have been assigned well. While the managers think the tasks assigned to the employees will lead to achievement of the set goals, the employees may not be working in line with their expectations.
Secondly the risk of not involving the employees in the strategy plan is that the managers may not realize the training needs for achieving the goals that they have set. They may think that the relevant talent is available, only to realize in future it wasn’t when the plans have failed. Failure is not the desire of the organization. This situation can be avoided by involving the employees in strategizing for the organization.
The assumption that the workforce has the necessary talent may lead the organizations into missing its goals; the employees know better what their strengths and weaknesses are. Working together with them, the organization can decide on what actions to take based on their strengths. Once they realize a deficiency in the ability of the employees propelling the organization towards attainment of its goals, they can train them accordingly. Failure to make such a move is risky to the organization because the strategic decisions are made blindly.
References
Kotter, J. P. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. New York: Free press
Tracy, B. (1995). Maximum achievement: Strategies and skills that unlock hidden powers to succeed. USA: Simon and Schuster
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